Ready
by Ravelyin
Summary: He told her that one day she would be ready. It took her 100 years, but Caroline Forbes finally understands they were meant to be. Now she just has to find him.
1. Her

It had been one hundred years since Caroline Forbes had last stepped foot in Mystic Falls. She remembered the day as clearly as yesterday - the last day she truly felt anything. She could remember the smell of petrichor in the air as her mothers' body was lowered into the damp soil of the family graveyard. The town's sheriff had died of old age in her bedroom, an amazing feat for one in power of the vampire ridden hell-hole.

There was something about being here in the same town she had been born, that made Caroline feel alive again in a way she hadn't in so long. She'd spend a century away from all of the drama of her Mystic falls life; traveling and finding herself as more than a beauty queen and socialite. She hadn't spoken to Elena, Matt, Tyler, or Stefan in at least twenty five years, finally relieving herself of the crushing obligations of their friendship. Walking these streets brought back a longing for human life she had forgotten. Though she and her friends had experienced and endless stream of horror and drama, she'd never felt more human than within these city limits.

There is something about being away from a place that will make you forget how much you loved it all. And there is something about going back there that brings back the strangest sense of longing. Of all the things Caroline could long for within the city, her forbidden tryst with Klaus Mikaelson was the most intense.

She checked the watch on her wrist, noon - early of course. A typical trait of the female. Caroline was known to have a brilliant sense of how to arrive everywhere neurotically early to then silently obsess over every small detail of whatever she happened to be waiting for. She would see Tyler again today. She wondered how he'd been faring without her. How his life had changed without their endless doppelganger drama.

Two hours to go.

Here she was, in the town she'd grown up in, died in, hurt in, and learned how to live in. The place she felt love for the first time. She had never loved since Tyler Lockwood. There was a sense of coldness in her that she couldn't comprehend when it came to falling in love. She had tried again and again as the years went by to no avail. Such is life. She'd figured she'd had her true love and lost it, leaving her empty and jaded permanently. As she wandered aimlessly through the forest she found herself in a familiar spot. This is where _they _were together. Where he asked her for a confession and she complied. She confessed and they had a moment she'd never quite let go of. He told her he'd intended to be her last love, yet he'd never tried to find her since that night. She thought about going to find him, years after she'd learned to forgive him his crimes and committed a few of her own. Her pride kept her from him. She never wanted to admit she was empty without his endless torment. Being in this spot brought back all of the compartmentalized feelings for him. It was like a rush of realization - she needed him.


	2. Him

His kingdom. His prodigy. His legacy. Finally he was finished working toward these things. Klaus Mikaelson had found everything he had ever wanted in his nearly twelve hundred years of life. There was a time when he wished for nothing more than this moment, and here he stood united with his family and without enemies. His daughter, Hope, exactly what he had hoped for. She was fierce, brutal, calm, and she admired nothing in this world more than her father. Elijah and Rebekah had finally found their own happiness, and Klaus welcomed them and their respective families to his side. Kol was alive again, the why he wasn't fully sure of; Some business in Mystic Falls with the witches nearly one hundred and fifty years back. Kol was the only source of excitement in New Orleans anymore, and it wasn't saying much. His youngest brother was a troublemaker, sure, but he didn't cause the trouble Klaus had grown accustomed to. To put it quite simply, he was bored. And exceedingly so.

He stood in the grand staircase drink in hand as the bustle of preparations passed him by. The grand ball would be tonight in honor of Hopes engagement to Senator Tektor Greene. This move would secure the entire state of Louisiana for his family. Yet, something was missing. He sighed and finished his drink quickly, making his way to the foyer to pour another.

There stood Hope with her dark hair curling lightly at the shoulder and her long red dress accenting her beauty and elegance. She reminded him of her mother, Hayley. Such a sweet girl, such a liability. When she saw her father, Hopes eyes lit up in adoration. She smiled and approached him so gracefully she seemingly floated across the floor.

"Father."

"Hello, darling. You look stunning."

Hope blushed shyly and smiled at Klaus. She could read the sadness on his face as they embraced and it made her want to cry. How could she make her father happy? She'd done everything she could think of to make him proud, and he seemed to be pleased with her choice of mate. Yet there was something dark beneath his surface she couldn't lighten.

"May I speak with you alone upstairs?" She asked, her tone reminiscent of his mothers', the kind of request that couldn't be denied.

"Of course, love."

They walked up the staircase together arm in arm. When they reached the girls bedroom and closed the door Hope looked deeply into her fathers eyes with concern.

"You seem sad lately."

"How could I ever be sad on such a wondrous occasion?"

Hope chuckled nervously and continued. "Please, Dad, I only want you to be as happy as I am today. What is keeping you from this? I will surely murder it viciously."

They both laughed at the joke as Klaus put his hand on his daughters shoulder, "I am as happy as ever, sweetheart, though in my entire life I have never been so content. Surely I am just adjusting."

"Aunt Rebekah told me about life before I was born. You seemed much more alive back then… Is it my fault?" She was terrified to know the answer to her question.

"No, darling, I feel I simply need a new project. Everything here is perfect. Possibly too perfect. I -"

A ringing cellphone cut Klaus off and he reached into his pocket to answer. The voice on the other end was one he had never expected to hear and the sound of it sent a jolt of life through his entire body.

"_She's back in Mystic Falls. And you will never guess where she went." _


End file.
